


Slow Revolutions, Quiet Turns

by Thryn



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Slow-ish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-05-22 00:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14925968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thryn/pseuds/Thryn
Summary: After twenty two years of living in District Lake, it feels like most of the people Katniss grew up with are long gone. They all left this sleepy, small town behind in their pasts just like the rest of the world did years ago. But Katniss has stayed, because Prim needed her and she has steady jobs and there was never enough money to even consider going to college anyway. It’s better like this. It has to be.When Peeta left to go to Panem U, he had things figured out. College diploma in hand, he would eventually get a respectable job and settle down in a city far away from his parents with his own nice family and a house with a high-tech convection oven. But when he finds himself back in District Lake indefinitely just weeks after graduation, it seems like nothing has changed. He’s back where he started, and he doesn’t know where he’s headed.(ON A BRIEF HIATUS UNTIL THE FALL. WILL BE BACK!)





	1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE**

The flickering of the fire was reflected in her gaze. Her entire face was layered in shadow except for those twin amber sparks.

But behind the two specks of light her eyes were flat pools of almost black. There wasn’t anything there. Just flatness and blackness.

It made him feel worried.

She didn’t exactly look sad as they sat on the ground and studied the campfire together. She even smiled as two of the older boys began competing to perform handstands in the grass. There really wasn’t anything very unhappy about her. Or at least, there wasn’t if you hadn’t known her before last year.

But he had. He had known her since way before sixth grade, since before kindergarten even. And to him, her eyes looked like they just weren’t happy.

They were sitting side-by-side, their legs crossed and knees almost touching.

They were so close.

They were so close, and yet he couldn’t really reach her. She was so different now.

His mother was always telling him to mind his own business and not say the wrong things to people. But it wasn’t wrong to want to try and make someone happy, was it? It couldn’t be. He had to at least try.

So he leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his. She looked up.

“Want to go make another s’more? I promise I won’t burn the marshmallows this time.”

The fire was still reflected in her pupils, and it made his face feel hot as she stared at him for a long moment.

And then, she smiled.

Sure, it wasn’t a big grin of pure happiness, and of course it didn’t mean that she would suddenly stop being sad. But it was genuine and directed right at him and made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he had said something right this time.

 

*******

**NINE YEARS LATER**

The bright blue front door of Peeta’s house was smiling at him and the rope swing hanging from the old oak by the driveway seemed to call out “Hello! Welcome back!”. The large sack of flour slouched in the back of his father’s car said “Look, nothing’s changed.”

In the distance he could hear the yells of a group of carefree teenagers - probably getting ready to take a motor boat out onto the lake - as if he, too, had just come back from wrestling practice after a long day at school and wanted nothing more than to forget about his math homework and go for a swim.

Peeta sighed as he opened up the car door to retrieve the last box of his possessions. It was somehow always surprising to him that while he had been out in the big “real” world of Panem U, life at the lake was the same as ever. And although it felt a bit surreal to be coming back after four long years away, there was also something comforting in knowing that so little had changed here.

“Anything else out there, Peeta?” His friend and neighbor’s voice rang out from inside the house.

“Nope, this is the last box. Thanks, Finn,” he called back.

“Thank fuck!” Rye’s voice now joined in too, bouncing off of Finnick’s playful jeering. 

“Now get your pretty face back in here and clean your crap off this couch. Your brother and I are beat.”

“Yeah, unlike some around here, my vacation’s only two weeks long and I intend to make the best of it!”

Peeta rolled his eyes and huffed out a chuckle. “Yeah yeah,” he grumbled under his breath. “Thanks for the help, dear brother. Don’t worry, I’ll close up the car from here.”

Moving home after graduation certainly came with a jumble of confusing and conflicting emotions. But if he was honest with himself he had missed his brother’s ridiculous but good natured teasing, and Finnick’s general craziness.

As he reached up with one hand to close the car door, balancing the box on his hip, a figure standing at the end of his driveway caught his eye. He turned towards it, and his heart gave what he could only describe as a dorky, happy little wave hello.

Katniss.

Wow, Peeta hadn’t been prepared to see her so soon after he arrived. Which was silly, because growing up in District Lake means knowing almost everyone and seeing those same people nearly every day of your life. So he really should’ve expected it, but still...

Katniss smiled and gave him a wave when they made eye contact.

“Hi!” he called, grinning as he slammed the door shut and set the box on the ground.

“Hi. I was just walking to the store and I saw you were here.”

He held his arms out as she neared and was relieved when she walked right up and gave him a hug. She felt thin, but not necessarily thinner than usual. It was sometimes hard to tell with Katniss. He had always been stocky and she had always been slight.

“Congratulations on graduating and everything,” she said as they quickly separated and stood a few feet apart. “And, you know, welcome back.” Her posture was stiff, but he could hear the sincerity in her voice even if most people probably wouldn’t.

“Thanks. It’s great, but also a bit weird. Doesn’t quite feel real that I’m done with school, you know?”

“I bet. How long are you going to be back? Here, I mean. In the District.”

“Couple months at least, until I figure out what to do with myself this next year since… Well, I had something lined up for the fall and then it fell through.”

“Yeah, I… I heard about that. I’m sorry.” She looked up at him, and it was clear that she meant it.   

He shrugged. “It’s okay. It was my choice not to apply at a bank or be an accountant for a big firm or something like that. And I do love the bakery. I mean, Mom’s not too happy of course, since I’m not following Bran and Rye into the world of doctorates and MBAs. But I think Dad’ll be pleased if I stay in the business.”

Katniss nodded and gave him a soft smile. “I’m sure he’d be really proud.”

“We’ll see. But how are you? How is everything here?”

She shrugged, folding her arms across her middle. “Pretty much same as always. Prim’s doing well, just about to start senior year. And Haymitch is keeping me on at the diner, so that’s good.”

“Oh yeah! You’ve been there for a while now, right?” He realized he wasn’t sure whether she had a full-time job or if she was still taking any classes at the community college. It had been months since they had last seen each other, and much longer than that since they had really talked and caught up.  

“Almost two years, yeah,” she responded. “I also started nannying for one of the families up the hill. The kids are really sweet and they actually like me, so that’s been good. But kids are easier to please than adults, I guess.” She gave another soft, self-deprecating smile.

“Or you’re just good at it and that’s why they like you.”

She shrugged again, ducking her head. “We’ll see,” she echoed.

“Yo, Peeta, what’s the hold up?” Finnick peered out of the front door. “Oh, hey Katniss,” he added upon seeing her. She waved. “Hi Finnick.”

Peeta’s friend directed his gaze back towards him and raised an eyebrow. Peeta nodded.

“Yeah, I’m coming, just a minute.” He turned back to Katniss as Finnick disappeared back inside. He sighed and frowned apologetically, reaching up to run a hand through his hair.

“Um, sorry, I should go clear all of this stuff before my parents get back. Don’t want them to already regret letting me crash here. Or for Finnick to think I’ve abandoned him.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“But it’s great to see you. We should catch up soon. Maybe you can come to dinner sometime this week?”

She smiled and gave a slight nod. “Alright. See you around.” And well, that was certainly much better than a no.

“Bye, Katniss.”

Peeta watched her walk back down the driveway for a moment, then turned and hefted the box back up onto his hip.

As he walked inside, Rye called out from the kitchen, “So are you glad you’re back _now_?”

Finnick cackled from his sprawled-out spot on the sofa. Peeta rolled his eyes at Rye’s suggestive tone.

“Yep, you all are just a bundle of joy, dear brother. Makes me so glad to be back.”

 

*******

God, it was good to see Peeta again. As Katniss walked down Main Street towards the grocery, she mentally ran over every detail of their conversation that she could remember. He seemed a bit sad about losing his job, sure, but even the prospect of being stuck back here – working with his mother in this sleepy little town for an undetermined number of months – hadn’t fully dampened his good nature. Seeing his sweet, gentle smile was comforting in a way that few things in Katniss’s life ever were.  

By the time Katniss had picked up groceries for the week and returned home it was already mid-afternoon. Taking the back road up to her house so that she didn’t have to walk past any other houses may have slightly extended the length of her trip, but no one had to know.

“Hey! Did you get cereal?”

Apparently her trip had taken so long that Prim was already back from work.  

“Yes, I got you more cereal. How was your shift?”

“It was fine. Got the usual Saturday lunch rush, but it was pretty calm overall.”

“Good.”

Katniss hated that at 17, Prim had already taken to working a few shifts at Abernathy’s each week. But Haymitch was a kind boss, vulgarities aside, and because the hours were only on the weekend it still left her with enough time for her internship down at the hospital. That had been a necessity for Katniss in letting Prim take the job.

“So Annie told me that Peeta’s coming back home from school this weekend. Did you know?” Prim asked as Katniss began to put away the groceries.

“Um yeah, I actually saw him on the way to the store.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Okay. I think he’ll be at the bakery for a few months until he can find another job.”

“Is he still dating that girl from school?”

“I don’t know. Ask Annie, she usually has all that gossip.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Katniss’s mental frowning must have worked, because Prim let the topic drop with that.

“Speaking of Annie, she and Haymitch were talking about the Summer Festival this morning. I can’t believe how soon it is…”

Katniss listened as Prim happily informed her of everything she had overheard about the planning for Panem County’s annual end-of-summer festival. But as she set about making soup for dinners later in the week, Katniss couldn’t help but let her mind drift back to Peeta. What _were_ his plans now that he was back at home? How long would he really stay here? _Was_ he in a relationship right now? It surely wasn’t her business, but she was curious. Because he was probably here for the next few months, and she was certainly here for the next few months, and maybe they could spend time together again like they had before he left…

To be clear, Katniss had given up any thoughts of being in a relationship a long time ago. It had simply been part of a general determination of what she did and didn’t have room for in her life. Somewhere between raising her sister, trying to keep her mother well, and providing for their family over the last ten years, she had made an unspoken but conscious vow to put her personal needs last on the priorities list.

But she could allow herself this one small pleasure, couldn’t she? This one fanciful imagination that would never be fulfilled and served no purpose other than to provide an outlet for her emotions.

Yes, she decided, and didn’t let herself think about it too carefully. Yes. Later, when all the lights were off and she was safely alone and curled up in bed, she could lie there and think of sweet smiles and broad shoulders and skin streaked with flour and peace offerings in the form of cheese buns. And she could imagine not only what could be, but also what might have been.

 

*******

As Peeta lay in his old bed that night, a few boxes of his belongings still stacked by the door, memory after memory washed over him. They played on an almost continuously looping video, fading one into another like the background montage of some cheesy direct-to-TV drama.

Many featured him and his family, the kind of memories that are impossible to avoid when you’re back in your childhood home and sleeping in your childhood bed in the room next to your older brother.

But the vast majority were filled with Katniss as well. Memories from when they were young and would play out in his backyard for hours or sneak down to the bakery when his mother wasn’t around for an afternoon snack of one warm cheese bun each. The awkward early teenage years where she was still the only one who he could ever really be himself around. Each and every time he had come home from college and she had still been here, just as strong and caring and committed and unattainable as ever.

Peeta pushed his hair off his forehead and rolled over with a sigh. He was in for a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's me attempting to actually post a multi-chaptered fic instead of just writing it over months/years and then watching it sit in my Docs for a few more months/years :p I currently have most of 10-ish chapters written, so I hope you like it and I'll do my best to add more soon.
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3  
> -Kate


	2. Chapter 2

 

**FIVE**

Peeta’s hands were shaking. Sweat dripped down the side of his face and he blinked rapidly as he scrambled to try and figure out what to do.

All he had wanted was to help his mom while she was out front. She was distracted with customers, and he knew that she would be mad if the day’s first batch of scones were burned. So when he had heard the buzz of the oven timer he had pulled on baking mitts, opened the oven door, and carefully reached in.

But the baking sheet was a little too big for his hands to balance. Half of the scones were on the sheet one second and at the bottom of the oven the next.

He stared at them for a moment, the hot oven air blowing into his face and making everything sticky and hard to think. He had to rescue the scones before his mother saw! But when he started to pull the tray the rest of the way out of the oven, he hit his arm against the oven door.

“Ow!”

He cried out at the sudden, burning heat against his skin, and the tray dropped onto the floor with a loud clang.

The door at the front of the kitchen swung open.

“What’s going on back here?”

He could hear the frustration in her voice and saw in her expression as it shifted from annoyance into anger.  

“The timer buzzed, Mommy. They were burning.”

“Well they’re certainly all burnt now, aren’t they? Burnt and on the floor.”

“I just wanted to help.”

“Next time you can help by going and getting a grown up!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Just get out. Get out of this kitchen!”

His mother didn’t actually hit him very often, but he knew not to test her. Peeta ran from the room without a backwards glance.

 

*******

**SEVEN**

“Trick or Treat!”

This was the fifth house that they had gone to, and Katniss was proud that she and Peeta had finally gotten their rhythm down so that they said the words at the same time.

“Happy Halloween! Oh, aren’t you two the cutest?!”

“Hi Mrs. Watson.”

“Katniss dear, what a lovely costume. And who’s this?”

“I’m Harry Potter. Or well, I mean, I’m Peeta, but I’m Harry Potter today. She’s Hermione.”

“Well you two are just lovely. You make a very cute couple.”

Katniss felt embarrassment ball up in her stomach at Mrs. Watson’s words.

She shook her head furiously as Peeta exclaimed “No! Eww…”

“Harry and Hermione are friends,” she said quickly. “Because they are, and we are too. We’re best friends, like Harry and Hermione.”

“Yeah!” Peeta agreed, and grinned at her. It made Katniss’s stomach feel much better.

“Well of course,” Mrs. Watson agreed. “Of course. Now, how about some candy?”

As they walked back down the sidewalk, Katniss scrunched her nose at Peeta.

“Harry and Hermione are just friends, right?”

“Yeah,” he said, sounding quite solemn and certain. But then he called out, “Harry and Hermione are always just friends, right Mrs. Everdeen?”

“I should think so. Why?” her mother asked. She was waiting for them at the end of the sidewalk with Mr. Everdeen, who was holding a sleeping puppy dog who was usually Katniss’s baby sister, Prim.

“Mrs. Watson said we were a cute couple,” Katniss said with a frown as Peeta echoed “Eww…” yet again. Her father shook his head with a disapproving expression.

“Well that’s terrible. Tell her to read the books!”

And then he began cheerfully whistling the theme music from the movie, which made Katniss laugh.  

 

*******

**ELEVEN**

Peeta walked closely beside his father as they followed his mother and older brothers into the church. His dark grey jacket—the closest thing he had to black—was itchy around the collar and even though it was below freezing outside he was already sweating.

“Dad, can I go sit with Katniss?”

“No, son, she needs to sit with her family.”

“I know, but can I go sit with them?”

“Shush, Peeta,” his mother hissed as she ushered them into an aisle. “Leave the Everdeens alone. This will be hard enough on their family without anyone else intruding.”

As he sat down, Peeta peered over to where he could see the back of Katniss’ head. She was sitting next to Prim and her mother on one side, Gale and his family on the other. Her hair was in two braids, a black ribbon at the end of each one. She was leaning over towards Prim, whispering something in her younger sister’s ear. When Prim nodded, Katniss straightened back up. A moment later she looked back around at the nearly full church. For a brief moment she made eye contact with him, and he gave her a half-smile.

She quickly turned away, and Peeta thought she looked embarrassed. But before he could worry too much about it the organ music stopped and the priest came forward.

“Thank you all for coming out on this snowy night to be here with the Everdeen and Hawthorne families during this difficult time...”

 

*******

“Mama, I think we should go get some more groceries. The milk smells bad and Prim wants cereal.”

“Okay, Katniss, we’ll do that.”

Katniss stood and watched the bedside table clock go up by two whole minutes. The bundle of blankets in the middle of her parents’ bed didn’t move.

She reached out and gently touched her mother’s sleeping form.

“Mom?”

“Okay, Katniss,” was the murmured reply.

This time, Katniss left the room so that her mother could get up and change her clothes and brush her hair. Then she would be ready to go out by the time Katniss had gotten everything else ready.

So she brushed and braided her own hair, then she brushed and braided Prim’s hair, and then she pulled out two large canvas bags because her father always brought his own bags to the grocery store.

When everything was ready, she peeked back into her mother’s room. Her heart fell just a little bit when she realized the blanket-covered form still hadn’t moved from the bed.

“Mama?” she tried one last time. There was no answer.

With a sigh, she softly closed the door and padded back down the hallway.

“Okay Prim, I’m going to go get some milk so we can have cereal for dinner. Okay? Do you want to have Lucky Charms for dinner?”

Prim nodded, her bright eyes wide and attentive.

“Okay. Um, so you have to stay here because I’m going to walk to the store. So… just stay in your room and play with your dolls until I come back, okay?”

Prim nodded again and headed dutifully into her room.

Truthfully, getting groceries wasn’t all that hard. Armed with the ten dollar bill she had pulled from her mother’s bag, Katniss made her way through the aisles of the Hob without much incident.

“Katniss, it’s very good to see you,” Ms. Sae said as she scanned the milk and pack of frozen chicken tenders. Katniss handed her the cash.

“Mother just sent me to pick up some things.”

“Well I’m sure your mother really appreciates you being so responsible. Here, how about you take some of these, as well.”

Katniss blinked in surprise as Ms. Sae placed a whole pack of chocolates in the bag alongside the milk. She was sure she shouldn’t just take something without paying for it. Her father would have been disappointed in her. But how was she supposed to tell Ms. Sae that?

“Oh, well, I mean, no, I can’t…” she tried. But the older woman simply shooed her out towards the door.

“Of course you can, child. Good night.”

As she walked back up Main Street, she saw Peeta’s father just coming out of the bakery for the night.  

“Katniss?” he called, waving her towards him.

“Hello, Mr. Mellark.”

“What are you doing out?”

“I was just picking up some things from The Hob.”

“It’s nearly dark,” Mr. Mellark said with a frown. “Here, wait here just one minute while I grab my hat and I’ll walk back up with you.”

A moment later he was back, and he fell in step with her as she continued down Main Street.

“Can I carry that?” he asked her, and she let him take the bag of groceries from her even though it was not very heavy. They walked in companionable silence up the big hill, and by the time they made it to the top a light snow had begun to fall. Mr. Mellark was very quiet, but Katniss liked that he didn’t feel the need to ask her how she was doing like everyone else did.

But then Katniss suddenly realized that if Mr. Mellark walked her all the way home, he might somehow find out that her mother was just lying in her bed. Would he be worried? _What if he tells someone that Mama hasn’t been making dinner and we all get in trouble?_

No, she couldn’t let that happen. She had to distract him before they got there.

“Mr. Everdeen, I can go from here,” she said as they passed the turn-off down to Peeta’s house.

“Don’t worry, you’re just a few houses down,” he said, and continued walking.

She still hadn’t thought of any good excuse by the time they were only one house away. Her heart was beating so loudly that Katniss could hear it in her ears.

But as they turned down the front walk, Katniss saw that all of the lights in the house were on, and as they walked up she could see Prim sitting on the kitchen table. And there was her mother standing in the kitchen with a mop and dustpan.

Katniss didn’t understand. What had happened here? How long had she been gone?

“Katniss, you’re back!” her mother called as she carefully opened the door and peeked inside. “Oh good, I was worried, you didn’t leave a note.”

“I went to the grocery store, Mommy. I told you.”

“Ran into Katniss downtown as I was closing up and just wanted to walk her back since it was getting dark and slippery, Amelia.” Peeta’s dad gave her mother a nod as he gently nudged Katniss in across the threshold.

“Thank you so much, Charlie, you didn’t need to do that. That was very kind.”

“It was not a problem. And… if you ever need anyone to run out and pick up anything, don’t hesitate to let us know. Especially if you have to head to work soon. We’re just a few doors down.”

“You’re too kind, Charlie. Thank you.”

When Mr. Mellark had gone and her mother had given her some carrots to chop, Katniss took the knife and cutting board over to the table where Prim sat.

“We’ll have Lucky Charms for dessert since I promised you. Okay, duck?” she murmured.

Prim nodded.

“Okay, Katniss.”

 

*******

**TWELVE**

It had been raining all day, the temperature just above freezing, which meant that no one was outside during lunchtime. Katniss pulled her coat tighter around herself as she slid down the wall to sit on the sidewalk under the eaves. It was a relief to be alone and away from the laughter and chatter of her classmates.

Madge and Gale had sat with her in the cafeteria while they ate lunch, just like normal. It had been nice, talking about the basketball game and whether it would actually snow three inches on Saturday. Well, it had been nice to listen to them. She hadn’t really contributed much. And when the pressure inside her chest had gotten too tight, and she still couldn’t figure out how to say anything, she had quietly gotten up to throw away her trash. Madge and Gale had accepted her flimsy excuse of “I’m going to go to the bathroom.” They were nice, and she liked that they didn’t ask her questions about everything. Gale especially understood a bit of what she was feeling and didn’t push her.

Katniss closed her eyes, breathing in the cold, damp air and listening to the sound of rain hitting the tin roof above her. Breathe in, breathe out… breathe in, breathe out…

“Katniss?”

She tensed as a voice said her name. She hadn’t even heard anyone come outside.

Slowly, she turned and looked up. Peeta was standing by the door, a lunch bag clutched in his hand. He took a half step towards her.

“Can I sit out here too?”

She nodded. She didn’t really want to be all alone, she just didn’t want to talk to the others right now. Peeta was usually good but quiet company.

He slid down the walk next to her, pulling up his knees so his feet wouldn’t get splashed by the water streaming off of the gutter. He put the bag on his lap and reached in.

“Here.” He was holding out a cookie to her.

“Oh.”

“I have a whole dozen. I burned a tray this morning.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

She didn’t really know what else to say. She took a bite. The cookie was sweet and chewy and didn't really taste very burnt. She wondered if he’d messed them up on purpose. And did his mother know he’d taken them all to school? She wondered if he wanted her to ask.

But Peeta seemed content to just sit there beside her until the bell rang. When they had finished their first cookies, he handed her another and then grabbed a second for himself. Then he pulled out the journal that Mr. Cinna had given him. Katniss watched out of the corner of her eye as he began to sketch what looked like a boy and a girl sitting in a field and sharing a fancy cake. She smiled. Sometimes, Peeta seemed to talk with sugar and drawings instead of words.

 

*******

**THIRTEEN**

The flickering of the fire was reflected in her gaze. Her entire face was layered in shadow except for those twin amber sparks. But behind the two specks of light her eyes were flat pools of almost black. There wasn’t anything there. Just flatness and blackness.

It made Peeta feel worried.

She didn’t look sad, exactly, as they sat on the ground and studied the campfire together. She even smiled as Finnick and two of the older boys began competing to perform handstands in the grass. There was nothing really blatantly sad or unhappy about her. Or, well, maybe there wasn’t if you didn’t really know her. But he did! They had been friends since way before last year, even before kindergarten. And to him, her eyes looked like they just weren’t happy.

They were sitting side-by-side, their legs crossed and knees almost touching.

They were so close.

They were so close, but it was almost like she wasn’t really there like he was. She was so different now, ever since last year. This was the first time they’d hung out for a full day since… well, probably since sixth grade. Which was forever ago. They were about to start seventh next month.

His mother was always telling him to keep out of other people’s business. But it wasn’t wrong to want to try and make someone happy, was it? It couldn’t be. Especially when the whole point of the Festival was to be happy and celebrate summer. He at least had to try.

So he leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his. She looked up.

“Want to go make another s’more? I promise I won’t burn the marshmallows this time.”

The fire was still reflected in her pupils, and his face felt hot as she stared at him for a long moment.

And then, she smiled.

Sure, it wasn’t a big grin of pure happiness, and of course it didn’t mean that she would suddenly stop being sad. But it was genuine and directed right at him and made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he had said something right this time.

She blinked and the smile faded slightly, and then she nudged him back and said seriously, “What if a big scary high schooler steals all your chocolate again?”

He stuck his tongue out at her, but the fact that she was teasing him made him want to jump up and give someone a high five. Or maybe give her a hug, although he wasn’t about to do that either.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, and wished he was better at comebacks like his brothers were. “Rye’s somewhere else, so who cares about him? Let’s go.”

So they hopped up and brushed the dirt off their shorts and left their flip-flops by the fire as they walked across the field to the food tables.

“You have such a big sweet tooth,” she said when they had gotten their marshmallows and were headed back to the campfire. “Aren’t all your teeth going to fall out when you’re like, old and wrinkly?”

He rolled his eyes.

“No. That can’t happen to bakers. We’re, like, immune to it. And anyway you always eat the stuff I bring to school so if all my teeth fall out then yours will too.”

She shook her head.

“Then you’re a terrible friend.”

He knew she was joking, but as soon as she said it a look of fear flashed across her face. She looked down, hiding her eyes behind her hair.

“I… I didn’t mean that.”

She glanced up at him, and he could momentarily see the firelight reflecting her eyes again.

“I know,” he said seriously. “We’ll always be good friends.”

And then that smile was back, and this time Peeta was sure he’d said something right.

 

*******

“You’re a… a BUTTFACE!” he shouted as he slammed the door.

Ugh. Stupid stupid stupid. Rye was an ugly buttface. He always made fun of Peeta for just being the way he was, and Peeta hated him, he really did.

Fuming, he trudged down to the dock and sat down heavily. He glared at the water. Then he picked up a stick and threw it into the water. It made a feeble, whooshing arc and landed about five feet away from him. Stupid stick.

“Nice one.”

At the sound of a voice, Peeta whipped around to find Katniss sitting on her dock. How had he not seen her when he had walked down here? She was sitting right there by the edge, perfectly still and quiet.

Well, great. Now not only had he just been humiliated by Rye, but now Katniss, a girl, was here to see his defeat up close. She’d probably heard him call Rye a buttface and everything. He should have chosen a better word… Asshole would’ve been good… Fuck-head would’ve been better. Yeah… that would show Rye that just because he’s fourteen now doesn’t mean he can mess with Peeta whenever he wants.

But unfortunately Peeta hadn’t done that. He’d just managed to say dumb words and throw dumb sticks and generally make a fool of himself in front of Katniss, that’s all. He hadn’t been hanging out with her very much lately, because they each had other friends now too, like Gale and Madge.

“Oh. Hi,” he muttered finally. “What are you doing?”

“Just sitting here. What are _you_ doing?”

“Nothing,” he mumbled.

“Okay…” She rolled her eyes a bit, and he looked away.

“Rye’s just being an… an asshole.” He flushed but felt a wave of guilty pleasure wash over him as he called Rye the name.

He peeked back over at her. He could see the shadow of a smile on her face as she turned towards him more fully, sticking her feet over the edge of her dock so they were facing each other across the water.

“Rye’s always like that.”

“Well he’s being more of one than usual.”

“Prim was being annoying this morning too. I mean, like, she didn’t really mean to be, but she told Mom about how I almost crashed my bike the other day.”

“Was your mom worried or something?”

“She was just mostly angry. She told me to not ride it on the back road anymore. She wanted to make sure Prim didn’t try to do things like that too.”

“Oh.”

There was a pause.

“What was Rye doing?”

“What?”

“Why were you fighting with him?”

“Oh uh, I… I forget.”

She smiled, and there was another pause. Then, in a valiant—and in his opinion, supremely subtle—effort to change the subject, he said “Hey, since you said bikes, do you want to go ride? We could go down to the park?”

“Well… I guess we could. But my mom might not want me to now.”

“Go ask and see! It’ll be fun. We won’t go on the back road if you don’t want to.”

Katniss looked at him a bit doubtfully, but then she nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

 

*******

**FOURTEEN**

“Hello?”

“Hi. It’s Peeta.”

“Hi!”

“Um I was working on the English poster but we don’t have the sheets that say all the stuff we have to do on it. Do you have those?”

“I think so. Do you want to borrow mine?”

“Can I come get them now?”

“I can bring them over to you, it’s okay. I’m bored just sitting here anyway.”

“Okay!”

“Okay.”

“Bye!”

“Bye.”

Less than three minutes later Katniss had grabbed the papers and her jacket and was walking up the Mellarks’ front walkway. The door opened just as she raised her hand to knock.

“Hi, Katniss!”

Katniss’s stomach clenched in surprise as she came face to face not with Peeta, but with Johanna Mason. The two girls stared at each other.

“Oh. Hi, Johanna. I… um I just wanted to… Peeta asked if he could borrow these from me. So I was bringing them over.”

Katniss awkwardly thrust the papers towards her.

“Yeah I forgot mine and we’re making our poster now. I’ll give them to him.”

“Okay.”

There was a slightly uncomfortable pause, as Katniss peered down the hallway to see if Peeta was there.

“Okay, um… do you want to come in or something? Peeta’s just upstairs getting the poster stuff so he told me to get the door.”

Katniss felt her face flushing as she shook her head.

“No that’s okay. I’ll just get them back from him later. Bye.”

“See you at school!”

She heard the door shut behind her, and refrained from looking back as she walked back down the driveway.

Katniss tried to ignore the strange feeling in her chest. Of course it wasn’t that weird for Peeta to have friends who weren’t her at his house. And of course it wasn’t surprising that Peeta’s class partner would be there if he was working on their poster project.

So why did she feel a little bit… angry?

Well, it didn’t matter. Even though Johanna Mason had very pretty eyes, it’s not like she was all that nice. And she wasn’t even the prettiest girl in the 8th grade.

Katniss crossed her arms over her chest. Yes, that was a good reminder, it made her feel much better.

Maybe she should call Gale to see if she should go over to his house to work on their poster. And afterwards they could keep working on her Dad’s old bows. Maybe they’d be ready to do more than bullseye practice and rabbit traps soon.

Yes, going over to Gale’s probably made a lot of sense.

 

*******

“So this was an incredibly important time in our country’s past. At this point, right around the turn of the century, industry was booming. In fact, what was most exciting was that it was happening here in the District and the rest of Panem too.” Dr. Whitaker’s nasally voice was droning on and on, and Peeta could tell he was about to go off on a tangent that had little relevance to actual history and would certainly never show up on their exam. It was all Peeta could do to keep himself from face-planting into his notebook and napping until the bell.

“Yes indeed, government-sponsored projects were popping up everywhere, but we were the center, my friends. You all know about the Seam mines, of course. Our town’s prosperity is built upon this period.”

Peeta snorted quietly. What prosperity, exactly, was he referring to? The Capitol, which was the only reason that anyone would ever come here anymore, contributed exactly nothing of consequence to the lives of the people still living in the District.

“Who knows the song? Come on, raise your hands.”

A few of the kids who lived up in the Seam raised their hands unenthusiastically.

“Katniss, your father worked for the Valley Corporation and you’re in the chorus, right? Let’s here the song.”

Peeta glanced over to where Katniss was sitting. She looked like she wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. He shot a glare at Dr. Whitaker on her behalf. Although he thought he remembered her singing a few years ago and being good.

Katniss clenched her hand on her desk. But then she straightened her shoulders and briskly stood up. Her face looked resolute, almost defiant. She took a deep breath.

And when she opened her mouth, Peeta nearly broke his pencil in shock. Her voice… her voice was clear and smooth and warm. And it was strong, weaving the words into the old melody with such grace and… and… Peeta didn’t know what words could ever properly describe her. He certainly didn’t have ones that would do justice. So he stopped thinking and just listened.

His stomach felt funny and full of butterflies. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

She only sang the first few lines, and she quickly sat down as soon as she was done.

“Perfect, thank you Katniss.” Dr. Whitaker should have been on his knees begging her to keep singing for the rest of the class period. Instead he continued with, “Now, as we moved into an age of automation…”

But Peeta knew: history exams and boring teachers be damned, he was never going to forget the words to the Valley song or the voice of the angel that had sung them.

 

*******

**SIXTEEN**

“Hey Catnip.”

Katniss didn’t need to look up from her locker to know who was standing behind her.

“Hey Gale.”

“Headed to Abernathy’s?”

Katniss closed her locker as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, and then turned to her friend with a grimace.

“Yeah, I have the dinner shift tonight. But I should take Prim home first so she doesn’t have to walk by herself.” She sighed as they fell in step and made their way out of the building. “Don’t know when I’m going to study for History...”

“Well do you need to get something at your house, or do you have your work stuff with you?”

“Um, no, I have it with me.”

She spotted her sister walking out of the middle school with some friends. Prim waved and then began running towards them.

“Well why don’t you just go to work? Prim can walk home with me and the kids.”

“Oh, are you sure?” Then, “Hey, duck, how was school?”

“It was good. Mr. Cinna gave us a free period so I’m almost done with homework.”

“Prim, tell your sister that she can go to work and that we can make it all the way back to the Seam without her babysitting us.”

Prim grinned at Gale before turning to her sister. “Katniss, I’m not a baby anymore. Don’t be late for work.”

Katniss nodded her assent just as Rory and Vick skipped up to join their group, and the five of them began heading down the street. When they reached the turn up to their houses, Katniss paused as Prim, Vick, and Rory continued skipping up the lane. Gale stopped next to her.

“Thanks,” she said quietly. Gale shrugged.

“Have a good shift,” he replied, his grey eyes meeting hers with a smile.

“Thanks.” Then she headed down the road to work.

 

*******

Katniss hadn’t gotten her period until she was almost fifteen. Her mother had never seemed too worried about it with her tired refrains of “Everyone’s body is different” that effectively cut off most conversations where they began. And anyways, it wasn’t something Katniss had ever really wanted to bring up in the few spare moments Mrs. Everdeen was around the house. Still, it made Katniss feel insecure when other girls would commiserate about getting terrible, awful cramps every month.

By sixteen she had, of course, realized just how little she had been missing, especially on nice summer days when everyone else was out in the lake but she didn’t want to do anything except curl up on her couch. Or, in this case, on the swing on their back porch. She sometimes wondered whether cramps were this bad for all girls. It was a rare malady that could make Katniss Everdeen prefer a day of sitting around over a walk in the woods or really anything outside of the house.

From the porch, Katniss could just see the edge of the Mellarks’ dock further down around the lake. All of the larger houses like theirs had big backyards that ran all the way down to the waterfront. Katniss was lucky that her family’s property was somehow so long and skinny that it managed to have a small dock attached as well. That was more and more uncommon the further up the hill you went and the farther you got from town. _The Seam_ , they called her part of the lake, because eventually the creek ran out and you ended up at the entrance to the old coal mines.

She watched as a swimsuit-clad Peeta appeared on his dock, pulling his canoe along behind him. When he stood up, he caught sight of her and waved. She waved back and he beckoned her over to his deck. She smiled and shook her head. He mimed paddling the boat and casting a line, and then beckoned again. When she gave him a thumbs up but shook her head a second time, he frowned. Then he turned back to the boat.

When Katniss looked up again, Peeta had disappeared from view.

A minute later there was a crack of sticks breaking underfoot, and she turned to find him rounding the corner of her house. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt. The strength he had gained from wrestling season was still evident in his arms.

“Hey. How’s it going? I just wanted to see if you wanted to go out in the boat? Dad wants to do some fishing so we’re going out.”

“Um… not really today. I don’t feel very good right now.”

“Are you sick?”

“I just have a stomach ache. It’s fine, it’ll go away soon. You should just go on. But thanks.”

He looked at her for a minute, then frowned.

“That sucks, I’m sorry.” Then he walked up the stairs to the porch and sat down next to her with a sigh.

They sat in silence for a moment. Then he said, “Well, if you want we can just go sit on the float. We don’t have to go out on the boat or swim or anything.”

It made a warm feeling expand in Katniss’s chest to know that Peeta would give up a boat ride with his dad just to hang out with her. They so rarely spent time together outside of school these days. If she let herself admit it, she knew she really did miss him.

At that thought, she made up her mind. Actually, an afternoon out on the water was probably just what she needed. And if they were lucky, this week’s grocery budget might get just a little easier too.

“No, you’re right. Let’s go fishing.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I’ll just grab my stuff.”

“I’ll go tell my dad.” He jumped up from the swing with a grin. Katniss shook her head and couldn’t help but smile, his excitement contagious.

But just as she stood up to follow him, the backdoor opened and Prim appeared through the screen. She looked worried, and Katniss immediately tensed. Prim held up the phone she was grasping.

“Katniss,” Prim said softly. “It’s Mom.” Then she glanced at Peeta, before carefully adding, “She’s still out and wants to… ask you to do something this afternoon.”

Katniss’s heart sank. This was probably Prim-speak for “Mom’s still hiding out at Aunt Lyna’s and not going to come back home, but she’s having an upswing and thinks she’s doing better so Lyna says we need to come visit.”

Katniss tried to sound positive as she turned back to Peeta. “Uh, sorry, we just need to do something for my mom. It might be a while. I’m sorry.”

He nodded slowly, looking like he didn’t quite believe her but also like he definitely wasn’t going to call her out on anything.

“No it’s fine, go ahead, I get it. Let me know if you want to go out later.”

She didn’t let herself watch as he walked away.

 

*******

**EIGHTEEN**

“Hey, headed to class?”

“Yeah. I have the Bio test next.”

“It’s not too bad, you’ll be okay.”

“Cool.”

As Katniss gathered up her things from her table, Gale shifted his weight back and forth. He seemed nervous.

“You… okay?” she asked as she stood up and pulled on her backpack. He grimaced and looked around the library. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around.

“Um… yeah.” His ears turned red as she looked back at him. “But wait, before you go.” His words sped up, beginning to tumble out in an unusual rush. “I was wondering how, since the dance is tomorrow, if you were going to go and if you, like, want to go.”

Katniss swallowed, unsure what exactly he was asking her but worried that she could guess.

“Go together, you mean?” He nodded, rolling his shoulders back into what was probably supposed to be a casual, confident pose.

Katniss frowned. “Like… as friends?”

“Oh. Um...”

But the look on his face was all the answer she needed.

No, Gale had most definitely not been asking her to go as friends. Katniss felt herself blush furiously.

But then, before she could think of something to say in response, Gale glanced quickly around them again. Then he turned back, stepped up to her, and leaned in. Katniss froze as his hand fell on her shoulder and he pressed his mouth against hers in a brief, soft kiss.

When he pulled away, he looked about as surprised as she was by his sudden action.

Holy cow. Had Gale just… kissed her? On a Thursday afternoon? In the school library? Well that was… unexpected. She had always thought her first kiss would be... well, something different. 

Katniss waited for him to say something, because her mind felt like a completely blank piece of paper right now. But he seemed as uncomfortable and unfortunately word-less as her. She cleared her throat. 

“Gale, I don’t think I can like, be your girlfriend. Or whatever,” she fumbled. “I don’t think I should be, like, dating _anyone_ right now, not just you. I… We’re seniors and we’ve been friends for so long. You’re my best friend. Can’t we be best friends? We can definitely go to the dance if you want.”

Crap. This was probably exactly what you weren’t supposed to do. This was like one of those cringe-worthy stories you read in the back section of a teen magazine. But how were you supposed to say no to someone you liked but didn’t _like_ like and wanted to just be best friends with without invoking the dreaded, awful “friend zone”?

Katniss hated feeling guilty for something that really wasn’t her fault. But now Gale wasn’t making eye contact with her. Embarrassingly, she suddenly felt tears welling up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she rushed on. “I don’t want you to be mad at me but I just… I can’t.”

He still hadn’t looked up, though he looked like he might be preparing to say something.

But Katniss wasn’t sure she could deal with that right now. Before he could get any words out, she stepped away from him.

“I have to go to class—my test—I’m sorry...”

Then she turn and all but ran down out of the library, carefully avoiding looking behind her.

When she opened her locker the next morning, she found a folded up note stuck in the door.

_I’m sorry. Don’t be mad. Want to take the bows out this afternoon?_

She turned around, and sure enough she saw Gale quickly look down at his own locker, as if he had just been watching her. It sent competing shocks of cool relief and hot embarrassment rushing through her chest.

With a deep breath, she grabbed her books, shut the locker, and walked over to him. She held up the note. “I’m always up for some target practice. Maybe we’ll actually get that buck this time. Imagine Rooba’s face if we brought finally brought it to her.”

“You don’t have work?”

“Nope. I’m free to do whatever we want.”

His answering grin was so relieved she was almost embarrassed all over again. But he just swung his backpack cheerily onto his shoulder. “Come on then, let’s go to English.”

“Great, because listening to Mrs. Trinket is just what I need to start off my Friday.”

 

*******

The pickup chugged sluggishly as he wound up the hill on his way back from the wholesaler. Peeta usually didn’t come this far up the Seam, since the highway exit was just a few blocks from Main Street down in town. But since Rye had a summer internship working at the Capital, Peeta had agreed to drop him there on the way back from running the weekly bakery errands. So even though he hated navigating the old truck through the bumpy ups and downs of the Seam road, it was much shorter to return to his house via these old backwoods.

As he finally crested the hill and downshifted to head back towards town, Peeta realized that coming this direction meant that he was about to pass by Katniss’s house. He idly wondered what she was doing with their last weekend as seniors.

His question was answered as the Everdeens’ old cabin came into view, a large wooden bow propped against the front steps. Katniss was out in the front yard, kneeling among the rows of her vegetable garden.

Mr. Everdeen had been a talented hunter. He also used to grow the best tomatoes and potatoes around, but after he died Mrs. Everdeen hadn’t continued his work. Peeta knew Katniss had grown a few plants over the past years, but it looked like she had decided to return to the full plot this year. Maybe she finally had time now that their schoolwork and exams were over.

 _And because she’s not getting ready to go to college like you_ , he thought guiltily.

Even though he didn’t know much about gardening, it looked like she had unsurprisingly inherited the Everdeen green thumb. Peeta didn’t even recognize all of the tall vegetables and leafy greens that were thriving in the sunny soil of their small yard.

He slowed to a stop and rolled down the pickup’s front window. She smiled and stood up when she realized it was him.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Good. Just ran some errands and dropped Rye off at the Capitol. What are you up to?”

“Trying to get this into some kind of order.” She gestured at the miniature jungle around her ankles. A streak of dirt wound its way down her sun-kissed forearm like an earthen caress. He forced himself not to stare at her exposed skin, an extremely embarrassing habit he’d developed somewhere around age 15. He tried not to think too hard about why he’d yet to break it.

“It looks like it’s doing really well.”

She smiled, looking genuinely pleased as she surveyed the plants. “Yeah, it is. I think it really is.”

“Your-” _Your dad would be really proud_ , he had started to say, because he knew it was absolutely true, but he quickly bit his tongue. What came out of his mouth instead was only questionably better.

“Your vegetables must really like you. It’s very impressive.”

She laughed—half a giggle, half a snort. It was one of the nicest sounds he’d heard in a long time.  

“Thanks, Peeta. Might be the best compliment I’ve ever received.”

“Well, I’m glad. I’ve got to go drop off these ingredients before the eggs hard-boil themselves in this heat. But I’ll see you next week.”

“Have a good weekend.”

 

*******

“Congratulations, Peeta.”

Peeta sighed as yet another person called his name and wondered who on earth he could have possibly not yet talked to or taken a photo with. He’d already gotten them with his parents, his brothers, Mr. Lattier, Principal Coin, Madge, Gale, even Johanna…

But when he turned around it was to find Katniss standing there among the throngs of families, teachers, siblings and friends currently milling around the school gymnasium.

Without letting himself think too hard about it, he spread his arms and pulled her into a hug. He grinned when he felt her gently hug him back.

“We did it!” he said happily as he quickly pulled away, drinking in the view of her happy and smiling in her cap and gown. It was always so nice to see her smile.

“Yeah, we did.”

They grinned at each other for a long moment.

“Hey dad, will you get a picture of me and Katniss?”

His father nodded. Peeta turned back to Katniss.

“Is that alright? We only graduate high school once, after all.”

She nodded and put a hand on his waist as he carefully put his arm around hers. As he straightened up to pose, she reached a hand up to his head and Peeta froze as he felt her fingers lightly drag through one lock of his hair.

“Is your hair ever going to stay flat?” she asked, a hint of fond teasing infused into her tone.

He heard his father snap a picture and blushed at the thought that he probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. He hoped he had managed to school his features back into a more normal smile when she let her hand fall away and straightened back up beside him.

“One. Two. Three!”

 

*******

**NINETEEN**

“Do you think you’ll be back?”

“I don’t know. Probably not for a while at least, while we get settled in.”

“Oh. Okay... So Rory and Posy are going too?”

“Yeah. That’s the main reason I’m going, to help Mom with them while she settles in to the new job. It’ll be good for all of us to start fresh. And anyway, maybe it’ll be easier to find a job away from the Lake.”

“You don’t think you can keep working at the Capitol?”

“Well sure, I can, but that’s no kind of life. Being watched by those security assholes all the time, constantly getting spat at by obnoxious rich city people, crap pay. There’s got to be something better out there than this shit town, Katniss.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“You… you could come too, you know. You could live with me! We could find a cheap flat or something and get real jobs and maybe even take some classes at Panem U next semester. I’m sure you can get a reference out of Haymitch-”

“Gale, I have a real job already. And I can’t just leave Prim, you know that. I haven’t seen Mom since graduation and I just… I can’t leave.”

“Yeah. I figured. Just thought I’d offer anyway.”

“I’ll… I’ll miss you.”

“Yeah. Me too… Hey, want to go hiking this weekend when you’re off work?”

“That sounds perfect.”

 

*******

Katniss took a deep breath and clenched her hands tightly by her sides. _One, two, three, four, five_...

Then she let out all the air in her lungs in one gust and slowly unclenched them again.

She had read the hastily-scrawled note three times through and still couldn't understand what to do about it.

_Just dropped by to pick up some things._

What “things”? What could she possibly have taken? All her clothing had been moved to Aunt Lyna’s, the medicine cabinet was nearly bare, and it’s not like any of the furniture had disappeared.

_I heard Primrose is working at the diner now too. Make sure she has enough time to keep up her studies, junior year will be important._

As if Katniss didn’t lie awake in bed at least twice a week, mired in guilt that her baby sister was now working six hours every weekend. As if she hadn’t taken on the extra job babysitting the Millers up on 11th Street so that Prim could do her internship and study for her classes and they could still save up for her college application.

_Call me if you need anything -Mom_

Aside from the few hundred dollars that arrived in the mail every other month from her aunt’s house, and the fact that somehow her cell phone had yet to lose service, Katniss had accepted that her mom was no longer a presence in this house.

But somehow this damned note—lying there so innocently on the counter when she had arrived at home—was trying to suggest otherwise. Their mother had been back in the house today while Katniss was at work. And she hadn’t even called first.

Katniss grabbed the piece of paper and balled it up in her fist. Then she threw it into the compost bucket under a rotting apple core, picked up the bucket, and headed out to the garden.

What Prim didn’t see wouldn’t hurt her.

And what Katniss could try to forget might hurt her just a little bit less.

 

*******

**TWENTY**

They met at a party, jostled together amidst the throng of his boisterous teammates and her fellow A Capella group members.

Delly was happy, and charming, and genuinely kind to everyone around her. She had grown up in a rural town not too far from District, one with two tiny central streets instead of just one. They both worked in the school store, and she had just declared a business major as well. 

She was also nearly the same height as him, and blond. Very blonde.

Exams, wrestling championships, concerts, living in dorms… he was never really sure what they ended up talking about that night. But when she smiled sweetly and touched his arm and hesitantly invited him to study with her for their upcoming Psychology midterm, Peeta didn’t even really have to think about his answer.

In this big, strange, buzzing hive of a world that was Panem U, you didn’t say no to kind and pretty girls who knew what it was like to grow up in the sticks and yet somehow still wanted to be your friend.

 

*******

It had been nearly three months since Katniss had seen Peeta. So she understandably questioned her eyesight when she walked out of the pub and saw him standing on the sidewalk just a few doors down.

Her breath caught nervously in her chest. Wow. It really was him. Even from behind there was no doubting the shaggy blond hair and the stocky build as he pointed out a flyer to the young woman standing next to him.

Maybe she should just keep walking, act like she didn’t notice him unless he saw her.

Oh who was she kidding?

“Peeta?” she called cautiously. He turned around and a surprised smile lit up his face. She gave an awkward little wave, given that they were just a few feet away, and a “Hey!”

“Whoa, Katniss! Hi!”

Katniss wasn’t going to be the one to initiate a hug—she wasn’t normally big on hugs with anyone except Prim, and she certainly wasn’t going to when someone who she strongly suspected was Peeta’s girlfriend was standing next to him. But she also definitely didn’t resist when he held out an arm and pulled her to his side for a brief moment.

“It’s really good to see you,” she said happily. “How are you?”

“I’m doing great! Dell, this is my neighbor Katniss. Katniss, this is my girlfriend Delly.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Katniss smiled as Delly shook her hand.

“It’s great to meet you! Peeta’s told me about you. He said we’d probably get to see you around.”

“So how are you doing?” he asked.

They exchanged pleasantries and small talk for a while. Katniss learned he was studying business as planned, and that he was loving a painting class he was taking. He and Delly both worked in the school store, which Katniss assumed was how they had met.

Delly had a nice smile and seemed very sweet. Katniss bet she was a good fit for Peeta’s gentleness, and her blonde curls certainly made them a bit of a matched pair. Katniss was glad that he seemed so happy. Peeta deserved to have some fun away from home.

After a few minutes Katniss knew she should get going. And anyway, it was making her strangely self-conscious to have Delly standing there beside him. She didn’t like intruding on other people's time together. So, she awkwardly made her excuses.

“I have to run to the store and then get back to the diner or Haymitch will be grumpy. But it’s really good to see you. And it was nice to meet you, Delly.”

“Yes, it was good to meet you too!”

“We’re here until Tuesday so maybe we’ll stop by the diner before then.”

“Yes, you should. See you around.”

With a smile and another small wave, she backed away and then continued down the street.

As she returned to the dim inside of Abernathy’s to finish her shift, Katniss couldn’t help but analyze the few, short minutes of conversation that they had had. She was fairly certain there hadn’t been anything too stilted or uncomfortable between them. Mostly, she reveled in his refreshed happiness. By the end of senior year, living with his parents had become a bit of a test for even Peeta’s unparalleled good nature.

So Katniss was happy for him. If anyone deserved to get away from this tiny, stifling town and have a good college experience, it was Peeta.

And maybe, if she was lucky, he would keep coming back to say hello to the ones here at home every once in a while. Maybe it made her pitiful, but Katniss had to admit that staying here while Prim finished school would be just a little easier if she always knew she had that to look forward to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, made it. I know there was a bit of angst going on there, but I hope you all enjoyed this little exploration into the backstories of our favorite two characters. We'll carry on in the present day next chapter, so look forward to that :D
> 
> Thanks to everyone who for some reason decided that that bare-bones first chapter was worthy of your feedback. It gave me much-needed posting motivation. Also, last time I forgot to thank the great Alexi Murdoch for inspiring the story title. And give credit to Suzanne Collins for her creative genius in gifting us the world of The Hunger Games.
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3  
> -Kate


	3. Chapter 3

Peeta had only been back home for three days by the time his mother had passive-aggressively asked him how the job hunt was going on three separate occasions, his father had enlisted him to help clean out the shed and cut down two dead trees in the backyard, and Rye had made at least five separate jokes about his relationship status. Two of the jokes had blatantly involved Katniss, and one of them had been very explicit and made within earshot of both of his parents.

In short, being back at home was pretty much everything that Peeta would have expected it to be.

On Monday morning he was woken up at 6 AM by his mother asking if he could please come down to the bakery and help since his father had a doctor’s appointment and it was going to take a while because he needed to have some blood work done.

Why Peeta hadn’t been notified the night before, he didn’t ask. He assumed it was this exact tendency of his that had caused Rye to dub him “Pushover Peeta” at the age of thirteen…

Regardless, Peeta dragged a comb through his hair, pulled on a fresh shirt, and stumbled his way down the hill. By the time 7:30 rolled around he was elbow deep in sugar, humming to himself and lost in thought as he mixed fondant and decorated a fresh batch of sugar cookies.

Honestly, it was a pretty good morning all things considered. It felt good to be in such a familiar setting as he braided bread loaves and left them to rise. A lemon buttercream recipe he made up to go on some extra white cupcakes received his mother’s stamp of approval. And his cookies came out fairly perfect, if he did say so himself.

He even enjoyed staffing the counter during the slow hours of the early afternoon. Some familiar faces stopped by throughout lunchtime—Mrs. Sae from the grocery, and Madge Undersee’s mother. And a young woman he didn’t know even threw a few overly-flirtatious comments his way that he clumsily deflected. (Even though he and Delly had broken up nearly four months ago, he still had a knee-jerk reaction against flirting that came from having been in a steady, if not extremely serious, relationship for more than a year.) The woman had on casually expensive clothing—fitted leggings, strappy sandals, big earrings, and a top that was mostly taken up by a brand logo. Peeta assumed she was one of the “Capitolites”—the wealthy city tourists who came for a week of relaxation and “country living” over at The Capitol Resort on the other side of the lake. They were generally fairly easy to spot around town, and their numbers increased tenfold from May to September.

All in all it was a fairly normal and oddly comforting morning. Life as usual at the District Bakery.

 

***

“I need two kids’ grilled cheeses, a BLT, and a burger with pickles but no tomatoes.”

“Hold your horses, sweetheart, my dishwasher just disappeared out the back for no reason and apparently this shift has no damn cook.”

“He’s just taking out the trash, Haymitch. We only have one table left.”

“It’s almost three o'clock so we damn well better have only one table left. F-in Capitol buggers…”

Katniss took a slow, deep breath and then let it out as she leaned against the rough wood of the bar. Haymitch might have been feeling a tad overly dramatic, but he wasn’t wrong: it had been a long and unusually busy Monday at Abernathy’s.

It wasn’t as if they were usually empty, of course. For a grungy diner-cum-pub, they surprisingly had the universally acknowledged best coffee in town, along with affordable sandwiches and well-fried fries. Thus a steady stream of early locals followed by a crowd of lunchtime tourists trying to avoid the rising June heat made up most of Katniss’s breakfast and lunch crowds.

But now it was just after 3 PM. Cato had gone into the back, supposedly to finish the afternoon cleaning but most likely to take a smoke. But he wasn’t exactly an enjoyable presence in the front anyway, and Katniss was hoping she might not have any additional tables before the end of her shift. She could only take so much more of the dark paneling, smoky air, and crass coworker before she was going to just tear off her apron and escape outside into the sunshine.

It wasn’t to be. She sighed in annoyance at the sound of the front door swishing open yet again. But before she could even fully grimace at the thought of yet another table of yammering Capitol yuppies, she glanced up and her day experienced an unusual—but certainly not unwelcome—change.

It was as if the meeting two days ago had never happened. The sudden, happy thrill Katniss felt when she turned around and found a familiar blonde figure walking through the door was surprising in its intensity. She quickly turned away to grab some silverware and give herself a moment. She hoped her face wasn’t flushing.  

“Hey!” Peeta gave her a brilliant smile as she turned back around to find him already walking towards her. Only tourists ever waited for someone to seat them; the locals all headed to their regular tables unless the place was overly full. The single four-top that was currently the only occupied table certainly qualified as not “overly full”.

“Hi. How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, actually. Okay if I sit here?”

She nodded and grabbed a menu from below the bar.

“Is this dinner or lunch?”

“Wow, has Abernathy’s upgraded while I’ve been gone? Do you have multiple menus now?”

She frowned, confused as to whether he had just insulted the diner or…

“Sorry,” he quickly backtracked when he saw her scowl. “That came out wrong. It was supposed to be a joke. That was stupid.”

He looked fairly embarrassed, so she made herself smile. She knew she had simply misinterpreted his words.

“What, do you actually think we would ever serve more than ten items?” she said wryly. “That may be how they did it at all your fancy University diners, but I’ll remind you that this fine establishment is owned by Haymitch Abernathy.”

“One classic Abernathy burger and fries will be more than enough.”

Sensing that he still felt bad about the small gaff, she gave his order to Haymitch (her added “It’s for Peeta Mellark” kept the grumbling at bay), grabbed the order that had just come up, and then poured him one of the drafts on tap.

She slid it across the counter on her way past him to the other table.

“On the house.”

She used her other table as an excuse to ignore his noise of protest, and when she returned from delivering their food, he smiled. “Thanks, Katniss.”

She made a half-nodding, half-shrugging gesture and immediately felt self-conscious. She quickly picked up a rag and began cleaning off trays, and then scoured her brain for something to say.

“So, you never answered. Is this a late lunch or an early dinner?”

“We’ll say early dinner. I’ve been at the bakery since 6 so it feels like we’re at that point in the day. When is your shift over?”

“I’m off at 3:30 today, so you just caught me.”

“Oh! Well in that case I’m very glad I came straight here.”

Katniss made herself bite back the irrational smile that nearly bloomed across her face at his words.

“Katniss! Burger!”

Katniss quickly turned away to get Peeta’s food, glad for the momentary pause. When she put the plate in front of him, he rubbed his hands together happily. Somehow he managed to make the silly action look ridiculously endearing.

“Enjoy.”

“I already am.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, because she couldn’t think of any other appropriate response.

Fifteen minutes later the other table had finally left, and Annie and Thresh had arrived to take over for her and Cato. She grabbed her purse from the back and quickly re-braided her hair before peeking back out into the house. If she decided to leave through the front door because it looked like Peeta was finished eating and might be waiting for her, no one had to know.

“Heading out?” he asked as she emerged from behind the bar. She nodded, and he fell into step beside her. “Got any plans for the rest of your day?”

“Nothing exciting, unfortunately. I’m taking care of Rue and the twins later, but I don’t have to get there until 6.”

“Gotcha. Those are the Miller kids, right? Do you like taking care of them?”

“Oh, yeah. Jasper and Leo are good kids, and Rue’s amazing. She’s incredibly smart and probably one of the strongest kids I know.”

He prodded her for a few stories, and she obliged. It was pretty impossible to say no when Peeta’s whole attention was focused on her, and sweet Rue was an easy topic on which to dawdle. She was surprised when he stopped walking and she realized they had reached the turn-off for his house.

“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to talk your ear off. Well, um, see you later.”

“Yeah, for sure.”

 

***

Before Peeta could say anything more, the sudden, gravel-eating rumble of a heavy truck bumping down the road towards them caused him to start.  

“Hey Mellark! Yo Everdeen!” He and Katniss quickly turned to find the grinning face of Finnick Odair leaning out the window of his large red pickup. As he pulled up beside them, Peeta saw that the bed of the truck was piled high with twisted metal bars and what looked like a dozen massive tree stumps. Peeta had no idea how it all managed to fit.

“Hey Finn. What’s up with the haul?”

“Was just at an old lot up past the Seam. Apparently the Capitol bought it and they’re clearing it out for Christ knows what-all. Your sister,” he added, nodding at Katniss, “said she overheard some Capitol execs talking about it down at the pub, so she tipped me off yesterday. Totally weird and wasteful, huh?”

“Yeah,” agreed Katniss.

“Sounds like the Capitol,” Peeta added.

It also seemed weird for Prim to be talking with Finnick about District gossip, but he elected not to question that as Finnick continued his excited tale.

“Exactly. But the good news is that they let me take whatever I wanted before they hauled it all off to the dump. So I got a solid load of oak and some great iron pieces from this old smoke house that was up there. I think it’s gonna be ideal for my current project, though they’re gonna be a bear to unload...”

“Are you doing it now? I could give a hand, if you want.”

Finnick grinned and fist-bumped him through the window.

“Hop on in!”

Peeta turned back to Katniss. She smiled and began to back away, but he stopped her.

“Wait, so I know you’re busy tonight, but do you want to come over to our house for dinner when you’re off? It should just be me and Rye on Thursday, and I’ll be cooking.” He knew the hope in his voice was blatantly obvious.

“Oh! If you’re sure I wouldn’t be intruding on your family time or anything...”

“Nope. We’d love to have you. Seriously, we’ve had a lot of time together, so it might help make sure we don’t kill each other before he goes back to school on Friday. ”

“Then Thursday sounds good.”

Peeta jumped into the truck, and only watched her walk away for a few seconds longer.

Finnick lived on the very edge of town—right at the cul-de-sac where Fourth Street ran into the lake—on one of the most incongruous lots in all of District Lake.

For someone who so often expressed his thoughts at high volume and accompanied by large hand gestures, Finnick’s house was a study in contrast. Namely, it was remarkably tiny. A trailer dressed up like a full-sized wooden cabin.

Many District-dwellers found it strange, but Peeta loved it. Bright, nautical blue and white wooden panels encased three sides of the boxy, one-room structure, while the fourth opened up into a spectacular glass wall looking out over the lake. Inside, every space was used and useful with a level of ingenuity that was downright inspiring. A full kitchen that would fit inside a normal bathroom, a delightfully comfy couch that could be pulled out from the wall-mounted bookcase, and a dining table that folded up from the kitchen counter. In addition, a hidden trapdoor in the middle of the floor led to a stone cellar, which Peeta knew contained generous quantities of last fall’s cider and homemade ale.

And then there was Peeta’s favorite part: a tiny, wrought iron spiral staircase demarcating the kitchen from the living room and leading up in one tight turn to the large loft bed above the kitchen.

Whenever he saw it, Peeta was amazed all over again to think that Finnick had built the entire structure himself after his parents had decided to move back to the coast. He was equally amazed that Finnick had decided to stay here at the lake instead of following his family back to where he had grown up. But Peeta had an inkling of why that was, what the reason might be. Or _who_ , really...

But regardless, the house was a work of art, and one the fisherman could have made a fortune off of by renting to trendy, hipster-wannabe Capitolites. But doing anything for the money was anathema to Finnick. Instead, he preferred to simply pay the lowest utility bills in all of Panem and use the rest of the lot and income for his fishing and impressive woodcraft. Currently what looked to be three rungs of a massive, chunky wooden ladder jutted up out of the dirt beside the boat dock. Beside it, an amalgamation of old fishhooks and thin metal pipes were being twisted and soldered into some type of animal. A bear, maybe? Or possibly a whale. Peeta guessed that this new haul of wood and iron would be going towards whatever this project would eventually turn into. (He knew better than to ask what the project was going to be. Such a question would likely only bring him a discerning but lengthy monologue on complex woodworking concepts and very little clarity on any of the artist’s concrete goals.)

“So,” Finnick said as they began hefting the stumps out of the truck. “How is being back home?”

“Oh, it’s okay. Actually, the bakery wasn’t so bad today; it felt kind of good. It’s the actual being in my house that’s a bit weird.”

“Looks like you’ve been hanging out with Everdeen a lot.”

Peeta sighed. That hadn’t taken long.

“We’ve always been friends, Finn. And I’ve been back for all of three days, so I don’t know what your point is.” But he knew that there was little he could say to deter an investigating Finnick Odair.

“Right, right, I know. Best friends, knew each other since you were in diapers, paint each other’s fingernails while you gossip at sleepovers, yada yada. I get it.”

They began to roll a particularly heavy stump from the driveway into the backyard.   

“It’s just nice to know that there’s still someone around who grew up here. Most people are gone, you know that. No one wants to come back to the lake once they’ve left. And besides, I can promise you that Katniss isn’t interested in being anything besides friends—with anyone. She’s never been into dating.”

“I didn’t say anything about dating.”

Finnick grunted as he pushed the massive stump down into his yard. It fell on its face in the dirt with a resounding _thwap_ , and he plopped down onto it with his own grunt. Then he tilted his head and fixed Peeta with a critical stare as he leaned back and stretched out his legs. Peeta sighed.

“But that’s what you meant, isn’t it? Everyone things we should be dating. Or maybe everyone thinks we did in high school and so now that we’re both single we’ll get right back to it. My mother doesn’t even like her so she _definitely_ thinks we will. Or something ridiculous like that, I don’t know. But it’s all ridiculous, it doesn’t matter.”

“Your tone of voice, my friend, indicates it’s not quite so ridiculous as all that.”

Peeta usually had a deep respect for Finnick’s unabashed willingness to talk openly and about everything from the most powerful outboard boat motors to your heart’s innermost mushy feelings. Right now, however, he was starting to resent that particular brand of openness. It sounded too much like Peeta’s own inner monologue had for the past few days.

However, before he could think of any way to steer the conversation in a new direction, Finnick continued. “Not to be overly corny or dramatic, but certain inside sources as well as my own unparalleled romantic instincts indicate that the lovely object of your supposed unrequited affection might not actually be as opposed to a romantic liaison as you assume she is.”

Peeta vaguely wondered which part of that sentence was supposed to not have been overly corny or dramatic.

But, at the same time, it made his face flush. Finnick was insinuating that Katniss was interested in a relationship. Interested in _him._ He decided to ignore that for a moment longer.

“Certain inside sources, hmm? If we’re having a heart to heart should we talk about who that inside source might be and which of your romantic interests might be up for a “liaison”?”

He felt only slightly guilty to now be poking into Finnick’s own personal relationships. But Finnick was absolutely unruffled.

“Well sure,” he agreed. “But what makes you think I have any _un_ requited love or that when I am offered an open chance at romance I’m _not_ going to take it? Hmm?”

Peeta shook his head. Now Finnick was just blatantly wrong.

“No, now you’re just wrong. I had my “chance” right around age 12. I didn’t go for it then, when she needed me the most. I wouldn’t deserve it now anyway.”

Finnick looked out at the lake and was silent for a moment. “You know,” he said pensively. “I think the decision of whether or not you deserve a chance with her might be up to Katniss, not you.”

There was another moment of silence. Then Finnick all but leapt into the air with such sudden and cat-like grace that Peeta jumped back in surprise. “Alright,” he said as he dusted off his pants and then headed jauntily back towards the driveway. “Time for stump number three. Come on Mellark, I thought you were here to help! Let’s see, I think these should go over here…”

With a slight shake to clear his head, Peeta followed his friend back around to the front of the house.

Finnick had had his say, at least for the moment. That just left Peeta to think over everything that had been said. Outline the myriad ways Finnick was absolutely wrong. Ponder what things he might have gotten surprisingly correct…

So he gave himself the time to do so.

“What on earth are you going to do with all of this, Finn?”

“My dear friend, I thought you'd never ask.”

 

***

The thought of dinner with Peeta carried Katniss through the rest of the afternoon as she showered, made herself dinner, and then headed down the hill to the Millers _’_ house.

For a while, Katniss had been intimidated by the old farm house: a large oak front door flanked by two lines of pine trees perpendicular to rows of meticulously trimmed azaleas, a spacious backyard complete with play structure and swing set. It wasn’t overly large— this wasn’t in the very center section of the lake houses, after all—but it was clear the owners were fastidious about its appearance. However, once she had gotten to know the people behind the impersonal façade, she had become a bit more comfortable with just walking up the steps and through the front door uninvited, as she had been instructed to do.

“Hello? It’s Katniss.”

Demetria Miller stuck her head out of the kitchen, her lipstick halfway applied and her phone in one hand.

“Perfect timing, I just got a page. There’s pasta and chicken for dinner in the fridge. She probably won’t eat anything, it’s been a rough day, but you can see if she’ll try some of the pasta at least. The boys had a nap, so they’ll be up until 8 or so. Frank should be home by 10:30 at the latest. If he hasn’t texted by 10:00, call him. Also, if the neighbors call then you can tell them we’ll return the lawnmower tomorrow unless they want to come over and get it themselves.”

Katniss nodded—the quick-fire set of random but important instructions was typical for Demetria when she was in what Katniss thought of as “surgeon mode”—and then she headed through the foyer to the living room where the children spent most of their time.

Indeed, Rue was lying on the large tan couch in the middle of the open, spacious room. The girl’s small frame was propped up by a huge pillow and covered in a light knit blanket. Her face lit up upon seeing Katniss.

“Hey kid, how’s it going?”

“I’m tired but okay. And guess what?”

“What?”

“I got the new Mockingjay comic today!”

“Awesome! Can I see?”

“I was waiting so we could read it together.”

As Rue began showing Katniss the comic book, Demetria hurried into the room trailed by two frog-jumping four-year-olds.

“Good night darling, be good for Katniss.” She pressed a quick kiss to Rue’s bare head. Seeing them shave off the little girl’s beautiful ringlets had been one of the more unexpectedly heart-wrenching parts of this process. But seeing Demetria buzz off the majority of her own afro simultaneously had been one of the purest acts of motherly devotion and support that Katniss had ever witnessed.

“Okay. Bye, Mom.”

Jasper was still hopping after his mother, but when Katniss held out her hand to him he obligingly ran over to her. Leo had already sat down and busied himself with a pile of toy cars.

Katniss would be forever grateful that none of the kids were prone to fits of crying every time their parents had to leave. She was quite never sure what to do when tears were involved, and it made her job a heck of a lot easier.

As Katniss helped Jasper and Leo with their cars, Rue read the new comic aloud. After almost half an hour of minimally-interrupted reading (a potential record for the twins), the Mockingjay had discovered an evil genius’s plot, found a secret hideout cave, and managed to store up enough supplies for the fallout to come, and Jasper had begun to steal Leo’s cars to chew on. At the sudden, scrunched up look on Leo’s face when he discovered his blue truck had disappeared, Katniss quickly got to her feet.

“All right, do you all want dinner now?” she suggested with all the distracting excitement she could muster.

“Yes!” The twins’ exuberant agreement echoed around the room.

“Rue?”

“Maybe later.”

Rue was remarkably calm and mature for a girl of barely twelve. She wasn’t stoic—she didn’t pretend she felt fine or say “Nothing’s wrong” when she was sick from chemo—but she handled everything with a grace that Katniss envied.

Rue was clearly tired, however, and after Katniss got the boys fed, washed, and changed into pajamas, she finished reading the comic out loud to Rue herself. They left the heroic warrior as she was being surrounded by the evil ruler’s robotic wolves, having just fought off the occupation of the country and on the brink of saving the world once again. Rue fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Katniss was content to stay until Mr. Miller returned just before 11:00. It was an easy enough way to make a few extra dollars. But her day caught up with her on the walk back home. What with the busy morning at the diner, the time spent with Peeta, and five hours of babysitting, Katniss was hard-pressed to believe it was still only Monday.

By the time she tumbled into bed, she was already asleep.

 

***

Though Monday had been long the rest of the week passed quickly enough. Before she knew it, Thursday afternoon was speeding to a close and she was headed home to get ready for dinner with Peeta.

Katniss hadn't spent time at the Mellark household in years, and she was a bit nervous about the type of dinner this would turn out to be. Was it completely casual? Since Rye was there, the answer was probably yes. But might there be more to it that just old friends catching up? There was no way to tell.

She needn't have worried, however. From the moment she arrived to the end of the meal, Peeta was in high spirits. And Rye seemed to be letting his younger brother off the hook for once, keeping his crass comments and teasing to himself for the most part. Katniss could ask Peeta all her questions about the last four years of his life and he would just talk, telling funny stories and joking with Rye and sending her smiles that made her heart warm.

In turn, he and Rye asked her about her life, and listened intently to even the most mundane stories about Prim or Rue or the diner. When she told them about Buttercup almost getting locked in the fridge one night, Peeta laughed until he nearly cried. It made her feel like the center of his world, and she selfishly wished the night would never end.

After that evening it was as if a switch had been flipped and they were back to where they had been during high school, before college had let them drift apart. Maybe even close to middle school when they had truly been best friends and not simply parts of overlapping friend groups. The next week Peeta hung out at Abernathy’s nearly every day when he was taking a breakfast or lunch break from the bakery. Katniss rarely went in to the bakery herself—her habit of avoiding the disapproving glances of Mrs. Mellark had been firmly ingrained since childhood—but she would always walk by if she thought he might be staffing the counter.

The following Saturday, when they both had a rare day off, he suggested that they go hiking. They spent the morning walking up Snow Mountain, a hike she had done throughout childhood but hadn’t returned to in a few years.

They found an overlook near the top that had a lovely view of the valley and lake, so they stopped to unpack the sandwiches they had carried for lunch.

“Wow, talk about your lunchtime views. No offence to Abernathy’s, but wow…”

As Peeta propelled himself onto the ground and happily relaxed against a rock, Katniss realized with a start that this was the first time they had really been alone together for an extended time since he had returned to District Lake. It made her suddenly self-conscious of what she said, the way she moved, how close they were.

It was incredibly silly, seeing as they had already spent the entire morning together. But where should she sit now? This was never a problem when he hung out at Abernathy’s...

Peeta looked up at her, and she realized that she had frozen in her indecision. She stiffly lowered herself to the ground a few feet from where he was.

But he was as unfazed by her sudden strangeness as she was embarrassed by it. He casually continued the conversation, and Katniss was reminded once again how grateful she was for the existence of Peeta Mellark.

 

***

Katniss was looking at him as if he’d betrayed her.

Peeta watched as she slowly took a seat beside him, the red flush in her cheeks looking like it was from more than just the midday sun.

Crap. Could she have read his mind? Had she also realized how much of a date this felt like? Peeta scrambled for something to say, something to refocus their conversation. As he ran through a list in his head, he quickly realized there were actually myriad topics he could ask her about.

“I feel ridiculous that I don’t know this. But are you still doing any archery?”

“Oh, well not really. I don’t know, I’ve just been busy lately.”

“Think you’ll ever start up again?”

“I don’t know, maybe once Prim figures out college and everything.”

She still seemed fairly uncomfortable, so he switched tactics.

“How’s all that going for Prim? Does she know what she wants to do?”

Changing the topic from Katniss to her sister worked wonders for their conversation. As Katniss talked, Peeta watched the tension that had been lurking in her shoulders slowly dissipate. Her whole body seemed to uncurl from the stiff position she had been holding, and her smile was a bit less forced. If his formative years had taught Peeta anything, it was to recognize a defensive posture when he saw one. He so badly wanted to just reach over to her and find a way to comfort her, release her of the overwhelming responsibility that was obviously still weighing her down. There was no way that one person could hold so many burdens—to Prim, to her job, to her mother, to Rue—without feeling the need to protect herself from the rest of the world.

But because he wasn’t sure how to do that without making something worse, he settled for pulling out the blackberry scones he had been carrying with him.

“Care for dessert?”

“You brought those all the way up here?”

“Of course.”

“Wow, why am I not surprised that you still have the world’s biggest sweet tooth?”

“I do not!”

“Lies. How have you even survived this long, consuming so much sugar?”

“Well you know, I only bring the really sweet stuff with me for certain people.”

“I find that hard to believe. I’m sure you never fail to show a girl a good time.”

Simultaneous waves of pleasure and embarrassment washed over him at her decidedly flirtatious tone. A quick glance up at Katniss told him that she was just as embarrassed by the unexpected comment.

His heart rate picked up just a fraction. He tried very hard to play it cool.

“Well, only people who hike up to the top of a mountain with me get fresh blackberry scones, I can promise you that. The Capitolites don’t know a fresh raspberry from an unripe blackberry, so I don’t even feel that bad limiting their summer fruit intake.”

Katniss let out a snort at the comment, and her soft peal of laughter broke the awkward tension around them.

Later, as they hiked back down the trail, Katniss pointed out different plants they passed. She showed him a large blackberry patch just off the side of the trail, and they laughed when they discovered all the blackberries were still pink and unripe.

“Don’t let any Capitolites up here,” she said in a serious voice.

He managed to contain his surprise when she even offhandedly noted a path that she had once used for hunting with her father. It had been ten years, but Peeta wasn’t sure he had ever heard her talk about her father in such a casual, happy way. That was a surely good sign. He desperately hoped it meant that she was feeling comfortable around him. He wasn’t sure there was anything he wanted quite as badly as that.

 

***

“So.”

Katniss looked up from the book she was curled up with just in time to see Prim plop down across from her on the couch. Their clunky old laptop landed on the cushion beside her with a dull thud.

“Hey, duck.”

Prim gave her an even stare. Katniss blinked. Prim blinked back. Katniss frowned.

“What’s up?”

“So. Tell me about it.”

“Tell you about what?”

“Your casual date with Peeta yesterday.”

Katniss felt her eyes go wide in surprise.

“Um, I don’t know who told you it was a date. It definitely wasn’t a date. We just hiked the Mountain.”

“Just the two of you? With a packed lunch? After you’ve been hanging out constantly ever since he came back?”

“Prim, what do you want me to say? Can I not have a friend besides you who I hang out with? Should I spend _all_ of my time babysitting or at the diner?”

The look her sister gave her was highly unimpressed.

“Don’t be a drama queen, you know perfectly well that’s not what this is about. Peeta is back and you two have basically started dating over the past two weeks. I’ve heard it from convincing sources that he’s at the diner almost every day, and you came home Friday with half a dozen cinnamon buns. I think you’re even texting him, and you don’t text anyone. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

“Prim…”

“Katniss, I’m only saying this because I love you and I want you to let yourself be happy. And right now I think you’re just fooling yourself.”

Having successfully dropped that small bombshell on Katniss’s quiet Sunday afternoon, Prim put in her headphones and went back to watching her show.

As if some mean soul out in the universe was trying to poke fun, her phone buzzed with a text less than 10 seconds later, Peeta’s name lighting up the screen.

[3:15 PM] _Was just informed by some terribly clever Capitolites that there is a whole patch of raspberries up by the Snow Mountain trail_

Katniss rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Peeta trying to be polite to a group of arrogant, assuming city folks.

[3:16 PM] **_Sounds like they don’t get any fresh Mellark scones._ **

[3:16 PM] _Nope only regular cheese buns_

[3:17 PM] _And I just really hope they didn’t pick them and think that Panem raspberries are gross..._

[3:18 PM] **_Well now theyll taste Panems official cheese buns and forget everything else._ **

[3:18 PM] _;)_

 

***

The next day Katniss texted that she had an evening shift instead of babysitting. She seemed surprised but not displeased when Peeta showed up at the bar halfway through the evening. But they’d been texting a lot and spending a fair amount of time together, so as she poured him a drink Peeta reassured himself that she couldn’t have been completely taken aback. Hopefully she wasn’t sick of him…

Regardless, he had been at the bakery very late today and had just now come to a break in the recipe he was testing out. So, this was a very justified beer he was having. Also, he had a bit of a mission tonight, and he couldn’t let his doubts get in the way. He smiled as she appeared behind the bar with a bus tray and began pouring a set of drinks.

“How’s the Ale?” she asked, nodding at the glass she had poured him.

“Really good, thanks for the recommendation. So how-”

“Hey, excuse me? Waitress!” A loud voice cut through Peeta’s words, and Katniss grimaced when she turned to see a large, rough-looking man in a security guard uniform calling to her from a few tables over.

“Ugh, sorry, I’ll be right back. Although I don’t know why I bother, those Capitol assholes never tip well.”

Peeta watched as the man pointed at his plate and made a demand of her, his buddies smirking at Katniss. Then he glanced over at Peeta and laughed as though he had made a joke, although Katniss remained stony-faced. Peeta felt a sting of anger snake through his chest at the thought that the man was likely saying something either rude or inappropriate to her.

Katniss gave the man a short response, refilled the table’s water glasses, and then returned to the bar, her face expressionless. Peeta’s next sudden realization was a startling reminder: _That is what she used to look like all the time._

Over the past two weeks, he hadn’t really thought about just how much more Katniss was smiling these days. She had been so open with him since he’d come back to the lake, even if that mostly just meant a greater willingness to joke over text message.

But as she silently refilled her water pitcher and then laid out a new table setting without so much as a glance towards him or the slightest hint of a smile, he was struck with the sudden desire to distract her. Make her forget about those guys and remind her that there were much better people in her life who wanted to spend time with her in much more pleasant ways. He’d been meaning to suggest that they do something together again soon anyway.

“Hey, I was wondering-”

“Order up!”

“Sorry, just a sec.”

He tried again a minute later.

“So, any chance you-”

“Waitress!”

Peeta was definitely not violent by nature. That is, he was certainly capable of shows of strength or acts of aggression if need be—he had been on the wrestling team for six years, after all. But it was rarely his first reaction to a situation.

However, at the sound of the beefy Capitol thug once again summoning Katniss over like he owned her, Peeta felt that he could quite easily inflict great damage on the man’s leering face if he made the mistake of getting too close at any point in the near future.

She was scowling again when she returned from her trip to their table, where it hadn’t been apparent that there was anything the men actually needed. He frowned.

“Everything okay? Are those guys harassing you?”

“Oh, yeah. No, sorry, they’re just jerks as usual. What were you saying before?”

She looked as if that was as much as she was going to say on the matter.

“Oh! Right. Well I just wanted to ask you… um do you want-”

“Katniss!”

Katniss sent such a caustic glare in Haymitch’s direction that Peeta was glad for both their sakes that her boss wasn’t actually in her line of sight. She practically stalked over to the window to collect the new order, and he was relieved when she smoothed out her features again before she arrived at the innocent customers’ table.

He glanced over at the Capitol men, and discovered a few of them were already looking at him. One was muttering under his breath to the other. He had another flash of insight that maybe his lingering presence—and the accompanying questionable appearance as more than just a friend to Katniss—might be influencing their behavior. As gross as it was, they would probably lose interest and back off a bit if they thought she was in a relationship and unavailable.

Completing flushes of pride and guilt made him turn back away and take a long, fortifying swig of his drink. There was no way she’d let him pretend to do that, even for her own benefit. Everything he knew about Katniss told him that she was extremely unlikely to be into any form of PDA. Anyway, she’d probably already been put off by how much time he wanted to spend with her. And acting in any intimate way would also probably hit a bit too close to home and leave his messy feelings a bit more exposed than he wished.

So no, pretending to be her loving and protective boyfriend was probably a very bad idea.

Unless…

He checked his watch. It was getting late, and he should probably head out soon. The new dough recipe he was chilling was nearly ready to be taken out of the freezer to thaw anyway. And maybe he could have a positive effect on her night even by leaving. He finished the last dregs of his beer, then reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty. With a determined nod, he slid off the bar stool and headed towards his target.

She looked up from where she was cleaning off a table.

“I have to go, I’m sorry.”

A glance behind her found Head Capitol Asshole sneering in their direction. It was all the motivation Peeta needed. With a rush of adrenaline coursing through his chest, he stepped closer, reached out, and laid a hand on her upper arm.

“Have a good night,” he said softly as he brought his gaze back down to hers. Her eyes were warm and a bit startled and still frustrated.

Then, before he lost his nerve, he leaned in closer, his mouth by her ear. She stiffened minutely as he put one hand on her waist and slid the folded bill into her apron pocket with the other, careful not to touch her anywhere else. From behind, it probably looked like a lovingly intimate caress, his lips by her cheek and his fingers trailing along the waistband of her jeans…

“Didn’t want to leave the money on the bar since I didn't have smaller change,” he murmured, keeping his voice down. “Good luck with the table of jerks.”

He forced himself to turn away from her without lingering. But he could feel her eyes drilling questions into his back as he shoved his hands back into his own pockets and headed out of the bar into the humid summer evening.

 

***

Katniss watched in frozen surprise as Peeta disappeared through the bar’s front door. Her arm tingled from the casual brush of his warm palm against her skin; her neck prickled from a soft gust of breath. What on earth had just happened? And really, what on earth had been happening for the last half an hour?

It had been a perfectly pleasant night until the table from Hell had decided to become misogynistic assholes and had annoyed Peeta so much he apparently decided to leave. She hadn’t even gotten to hear what he had been trying to say to her all evening...

As she headed back to the bar, Katniss had a sudden, wonderful, perfectly frightening thought.

What if Peeta hadn’t just been trying to make conversation? What if in among all those half-finished questions and before he had touched her so incredibly gently, Peeta had been about to ask her out? As in, actually ask her out _on a date_?

No, there was no way… was there?

I mean, it’s not like—well she wouldn’t have said _no_ exactly, it was just… would he really do that? Might he actually think…?

Even if she might not be completely opposed to the idea, there was no way. Right?

After all, this was Peeta. Not only had she known him since before she could remember, but she had known him through so many different times in their lives. She could hardly imagine what her life would have been like had she not grown up as his neighbor. Katniss hated that at some point before high school they had each started to avoid spending too much time alone with the other. Maybe her attraction to him had become too obvious…

Because she had, of course, always acknowledged that he was not only a strong and selflessly good person, but also very physically attractive too. (In a conventional way, maybe, but that didn’t bother her.) Regardless, it didn’t matter. Katniss knew that even now she couldn’t give Peeta everything he needed and should expect from a relationship. She had had to basically raise Prim in the 14 long years since her father’s death, and she felt so much older than many of her peers. Then there was the fact that Peeta had been away to college and everything, while there had not been enough money for her to go away to school. She had taken a few courses at the community college, and she loved being able to stay in school. But she always wished that she could somehow escape. If only Peeta could be that escape...

“Hey. You, girl. Hey waitress, blondie there your boyfriend?”

Katniss flushed at the invasive question that was lobbed her way as she passed the table.

“What’s it to you?” she replied, blushing even more at the implication laced between her words.

The answering scowl was well worth it, however. The jerk turned away from her.

“Get us the check.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty then, there you have it. What do you think of Peeta’s little plan there at the end? And are you on Team Prim or Team Katniss—does a mountaintop picnic complete with scones and follow-up texting count as a date?!
> 
> \- FYI in case you were just dying to know, the file for this chapter was labeled “To Date or Not To Date”, and Chap 2 was “You and Me Got a Whole Lot of History” because I was feeling self-indulgent. Next chapter is currently titled “Storm”.  
> \- *But plot ordering is hard so I make no promises.  
> \- Also FYI #2 I think it’s called Abernathy’s Pub because Haymitch wasn’t feeling very creative when he bought the sign. But I’m definitely not above crowdsourcing if you’re feeling more creative than Haymitch ;)  
> \- I also spent an inordinate amount of time Googling tiny houses while writing this. Try it! It’s super fun.
> 
> Let me know if I missed any mistakes or made any editing snafus! Comments, kudos, questions, concerns - it’s all very much appreciated over here <3


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